Marijuana State Law Response Planned Soon, Holder Tells Panel

March 6 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Justice Department will
respond to the state laws passed to legalize marijuana
“relatively soon,” Attorney General Eric Holder said.

“We are considering what the federal response to those new
statutes will be,” Holder said at a Senate Judiciary Committee
hearing today. “We will have the ability to announce what our
policy will be relatively soon.”

Voters in Washington and Colorado on Nov. 6 approved ballot
proposals legalizing possession of up to one ounce of marijuana.
Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat and chairman of the
committee, said that in light of federal budget cuts, there may
be “more serious things” for the department to focus on than
minor possession of marijuana.